The Other Reason
by freedomfighter82
Summary: My first Terminator fic! This is the other reason that Kyle Reese decided to go back in time. Please R&R!
1. Childhood The First Flashback

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Terminator, the characters or anything associated with it. I only own Andrea Reese. Not Kyle Reese, not Sarah Conner, just Andrea Reese. Okay, this is a little story about Kyle and the OTHER reason that he went back in time to 1984. It wasn't all Sarah. This is about him and his little sister, Andrea. It is told through Kyle's POV. It begins through a series of flashbacks. Okay, I hope you enjoy and PLEASE review when you are done! Okay, here we go!  
  
I remember the first time I realized my sister was smarter, braver, and more defiant than I could ever hope to be. She was ten at the time, and it was this event at ten that showed to me and everyone around her bravery and strength.  
  
I remember that day so clearly. We were waiting for our parents...  
  
"Hush, Andrea!" I said to my little sister.  
  
"Are they coming?" she asked in a quiet voice.  
  
"Yes. Get ready. One, two, THREE!"  
  
We jumped up and surprised our parents from jumping behind a piece of rubble. My mother shrieked and grabbed at her heart, before laughing.  
  
My father, trying hard not to laugh, said sternly, "Kyle, Andrea, that was not funny." But we knew it was since he was starting to smile through his stern gaze.  
  
Andrea, 10 years old at the time, gave a baby frown and flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder. I was 14, and this was the only way Andrea and I were able to entertain ourselves. We were the only kids who hadn't quite resigned to the fate of misery. Even though we prepared everyday for the HK's, we tried to lighten everyone's mood. It didn't work sometimes, though. A lot of the people had resigned to the fate and were always crying and being miserable. I understood it, but Andrea never seemed to.  
  
"Why are they so sad? We're alive, aren't we?" she would say when we would walk past the women crying, the children who could never smile because they had never learned how. I tried to explain to her about loss and what it does on the soul and the heart, but she would always shake her head impatiently and say, "It's war, isn't it? I know it's sad, but these people who cry everyday from the misery of this place should be rejoicing because their children are in heaven, away from the suffering. They're happy now. And they died saving their family. They shouldn't be sad over that."  
  
She was so precocious. Sometimes I forget she's only ten years old. So many of the other children wouldn't learn, but Andrea seemed to live for her lesson everyday. When someone would say that what they were learning wasn't important, Andrea would whip her head around (she always sat at the front) and say that the learning and the teachings was what was helping some people go on. It was what was keeping us from turning into robots and machines. Without the beauty of school and knowledge, we would just be mindless, warped individuals who were indeed just killing machines without the metal inside of them. It was always funny to hear her say these big speeches in her undeveloped voice.  
  
Now we were walking away from our parents, going to talk to our best friend Pete. But before we got to Pete's part of the underground fortress, the Mayor stopped us. He wasn't really the mayor, but that's what everyone called him because he acted like he was the boss of everyone else. No one liked the Mayor.  
  
But he stopped us and in a disapproving voice like our father's, but with no suppressed laughter behind it, said, "That was a silly and Dangerous thing you did back there, children. Yelling and jumping and scaring the bejeezus out of everyone is very stupid. You could have scared someone so badly to think you an enemy. You could have gotten yourselves shot! Also, you could have attracted the HK's to our fortress. That was very inappropriate, and I hope that this warning doesn't go unnoticed. Mr. Reese, I sincerely hope that you can keep you and your sister in check."  
  
He turned around, but wasn't far enough away to not hear Andrea mutter, "Well, excuse us for trying to keep everyone from dying from insanity, depression, and unhappiness." He stopped, turned and walked quickly back to us, where Andrea was standing looking at him defiantly and I was freaking out, knowing he heard her. Curse her for being so bold! I thought to myself. The Mayor looked scandalized. When he spoke, it was as though he were out of breath, but he was actually heaving from the fact that he was amazed that some puny little girl would stand up to him so forcefully. She didn't even flinch when he put his face close to hers and said, "What...did...you...say?"  
  
She looked at him with a glare in her eye. "I said, excuse us for trying to keep everyone from dying of insanity, depression, unhappiness and boredom at your obvious grasps at tyranny." When she added those last lines, I thought that he would kill her on the spot. I held my breath, waiting for his reaction to her new boldness. He seemed to be wheezing, his face was going purple in rage. "Where...are...your...parents, you insolent...little...brat?"  
  
Even at being called an insolent little brat her unblinking gaze into the Mayor's eyes didn't falter. It was an intimidation mark she and I both used. Our parents had taught it to us when we weren't straining with fighting, weaponry, and school classes. "Make your opponent look away first. It makes you look superior and makes your opponent nervous." Andrea's opponent at the moment was the Mayor, the man everyone else was afraid of and only wished they could stand up to, who was being made fun of and stood up to by a ten-year old child.  
  
While the Mayor showed no signs of looking away, Andrea stared straight into his eyes and used a voice of defiance I had only heard her use a few times before. She replied, "I don't know, I don't tend to keep tabs on my parents. They're free people, free to do whatever and go wherever they wish. Unless your tyranny continues to try to take over that is. I feel for the people who are swayed by your so called power. You don't help these people to get over their losses and to stay strong, you promote unhappiness. You relish in it, it makes you more powerful in your state of mind. You make sure these people can't feel, you make sure the HK's get straight to their soul. You don't comfort you impose sadness. It makes me sick."  
  
After hearing this speech, the purple left the Mayor's face. His breaths, which had been coming in wheezes before, slowed down. He stood straight up and in a quiet voice said, "Very well." He walked off and for the first time since she had muttered the words that made him turn around, Andrea dropped her defiant gaze and when she caught my eye, she looked like a ten- year old again. When she had been speaking she had looked three times that age and had spoken as though she were three times that age. I was amazed. She had made speeches in class, but she had spoken her feelings to this slime of a man and had come out the winner.  
  
The Mayor did tell our parents, but they weren't mad. They were thrilled that she had stood up to the man. They gave her a lecture on respecting your elders, but they did it half-heartedly. I was more proud of my little sister that day than I had ever been until that point.  
  
Okay! Thanks for reading, now please review! If it seems a little slow, I'm sorry, I'm trying to build up character. 


	2. Promise The Second Flashback

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with Terminator or anything in this story except for Andrea Reese. I do own that character. I made her up, remember? I am so sorry that this took so long! Sorry, sorry. My computer broke down, it just got fixed, things are going to be slow! Also, I have rehearsal every night for four hours, so I don't have much time to write. Please forgive. FYI, this is NOT a one-shot. There are more chapters. Not that many, but a couple more. Should have said that in the first chapter, but oh well. Okay, still told through Kyle's POV. This begins with Kyle right before he leaves for 1984, then goes to another flashback. Oh, and this chapter has some bad language in it, so just warning you. Also, I use a quote from another book. I don't own that either, considering that book is completely true. I'm sure it's not exact, as it's from memory, but I think it's pretty close. Also, some who pay close attention probably notice I recieved ideas from another movie, but that's not as noticeable. Thanks to my reviews! You're great, thanks so much!_

_Okay! Now, on to Chapter 2!_

As I raced through the rubble, I had only one thought in my mind. To kill any damn terminator I see. To kill anything that moves that isn't human. Because those fucking machines are going to pay for what they did. They're going to pay. I had promised her I would take care of her. I had promised! It seemed so long ago, now. But I still remembered. I dove behind a boulder and reloaded the gun I had in my hands. I didn't want to think about the promise. It would just make me upset. I didn't want to think or feel. But I did. Oh, I did. I couldn't keep myself from remembering. I just remembered all of it, now. Every single thing that had happened.

I was eighteen, Andrea was fourteen. It was four years after the Mayor incident when I had one new respect for my sister. She was still as feisty and fiery as ever, but she had better respect for authority. But the day that I call to mind now was the day our parents died. HK's and tanks had just blown the fortress we had stayed at with our parents and the Mayor four years ago to bits. Now we were running, people dying all around us.

I saw my mother fall to the ground beside me. Andrea screamed. I looked back and saw that she was still alive. Suddenly Andrea, with tears streaming down her face, broke from our group and ran to our mother. She pulled at her, screaming at her, trying to get her to get up. But Mom was dying, and the T-50's and the T-60's were closing in. I could feel bullets flying past me. I broke from the group and ran to Andrea.

She was lying on the ground still pulling at Mom, trying to get her to get up. But she was starting to realize that she was dying and her tugs were becoming less strong, and her cries were becoming quicker. I knelt down and said, "Andrea, come on! We have to go! We have to leave!" Andrea shook her head and said, "There's still hope! She's still alive. We have to save Mom, Kyle! Help me, please!" She looked at me with tears in her eyes and on her dirty cheeks. I saw the long scar that ran across her face (courtesy of a T-43 two years ago) and my heart leaped out to this poor girl I loved so dearly. I looked down at my dying mother who breathed out, "Take her. Don't let her stay." I could feel my eyes start to sting as bullets raced around us. I felt a stinging, sharp pain in the side of my arm. I had been hit. We had to leave.

"Andrea." I said calmly and quietly. She looked at me. "Andrea, we have to leave. We have to go. C'mon. You have to get up." My voice became forceful. She looked back down. "Andrea." I said with more force. "Get UP. NOW!" I hated yelling at her, but it worked. She got up and ran with me. We ran past bodies and machinery. We dodged bullets, but Andrea managed to get a shot to pass through some of the meat in her leg. But she kept running. We stopped only when we reached a truck that had stopped to let us on. Our father was in it.

As he reached for us, a T-56 came up and shot him in the chest four times. Andrea screamed and it seemed as if the world had slowed down for a second. But then it sped back up again and I realized that I was sitting in the truck and Andrea was next to me. Her face was straight, but she was trembling. After her breakdown at Mom's death, she was trying her best not to cry. When we reached the other fortress, we started doctoring each others wounds, each of us not able to say a word. Andrea spoke as I started to wrap a bandage around her leg wound.

"I'm sorry." She said. I looked at her quizzically.

"For what?"

"For running back. It was dangerous and stupid. I'm responsible for this wound in your arm. I'm really sorry, Kyle." She looked pitiful. I shook my head as I finished wrapping her leg.

"Don't apologize. It was very brave what you did. You ran right back into the machines. You don't have to apologize." She nodded and looked at the ground.

"I don't know how much longer I can go on." I looked at her, surprised.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know how much more pain and suffering I can take." She looked very upset.

"Now, c'mon. You used to lecture me on how we shouldn't feel sorry for those we have lost. That we shouldn't feel sorry for ourselves. I know that that Andrea is still in you somewhere. I want to see that ever optimistic Andrea." I was trying to make her feel better, but I don't think I was helping.

She shook her head. I was reminded of how she used to shake her head and tsk whenever people would make fun of something or be sad. Her long hair would go everywhere. Now there was no long hair. A very short crop of hair was all that remained. Like her optimism. What used to be so vibrant was now only there in bits. "That Andrea is gone now, Kyle. She's gone and she can't come back. Not after what happened today. That Andrea was young and naïve. She is no longer here. She died today. She died." It was my turn to shake my head.

"You can't have given up completely. Things are bad, but you were once above that. You know, it kills me to see you in such distress. But you have to get out of this funk. I know, it was a horrible day. Our parents…" I couldn't bring myself to say that they had died, "There are going to be a lot more days like this. But like you said, the only thing that keeps us from turning into mindless killing machines like the robots out there is the beauty and knowledge of how wonderful things could be. You have to remember that." She looked at me. She had tears in her eyes again.

"When did you get so optimistic?" she asked jokingly. I smiled and she laughed a little.

"See, that's what we need. That's what everyone needs. They need to laugh and smile. They need to know that we can still go on in our heads. What was that quote you used to tell me all the time? From that book, The Diary of Anne Frank?" 

She smiled. "'There are no bolts, no locks, no doors that anyone can put on your mind.' Otto Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank, I cannot believe you remembered that. I haven't thought about that quote in years."

"Well, now's the perfect time to start remembering it. You have to go on, Andrea. I will take care of you. No matter what." At that she raised her eyes to level with his.

"You promise?" She asked. There was a pleading in Andrea's voice like none I had ever heard before.

"Yeah, I promise. I will take care of you." I said it slowly, to make sure she understood. She smiled.

"Okay. I'll try Kyle. I'll try to go on." She leaned into me and I held her.

As I think of that conversation now, ten years later, I only wish that I had been able to keep my promise.

_Okay! Thanks to my reviews, hope that everyone who reads this enjoys and reviews! It's a little slow, but I promise it'll be explained a little more! Thanks! Please review!_

_-Freedomfighter82_


	3. Endgame The Third Flashback

_…So, the third and final update is about a year and a half late. Umm…better late than never? I do not own the Terminator, just Andrea. She's mine._

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We were running. We were always running. It had been eight years since our parents' death. Andrea was twenty-two, I was twenty-six. Andrea had become a lieutenant in John Connor's army, and I had become the commander of our militia. We were so close to winning. So close. The machines had been losing battles left and right. Victory was in our reach. I could almost see it dangling in front of our faces. As though I could reach out and grab it. But we still had a ways to go. And my world was about to come crashing down upon me.

We were running. Andrea was right behind me. I saw a ship in the near distance. I saw the gun barricade open and I saw the guns load. I grabbed Andrea and threw her to the ground, and we rolled as the shot rang above our heads. We began crawling towards a large piece of shrapnel, something to hide under. We reached our destination and scrambled under just as shot began firing again.

When the last shot was fired, we sprang up and began to run. I could see several terminators in front of us, twenty seconds from spitting distance. I pulled out my modified .357 and opened fire. One fell to the ground and the other opened fire on me. I ducked and rolled as Andrea did the same. I tried shooting again, but I was out. Shit. I glanced at Andrea, who immediately understood. She raised her gun and filled the terminator with holes. It fell to the ground, beaten. For the moment. I looked over and grinned at Andrea. She sat up and grinned back.

Suddenly, Andrea's grin contorted into that of shock and pain. I looked at her abdomen. There was a sudden abundance of rushing blood that hadn't been there before. The world seemed to slow down as Andrea fell. I could hear someone screaming. Only later did I realize that had been me. I caught her before she hit the ground and I could only stare with shock and misunderstanding. Then the world sped up again and I laid her down and grabbed her gun. I opened fire on the fucking machine, making sure that it wouldn't get back up again. I felt a sharp pain in my side, but I didn't care. That thing was going to die. The terminator collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

I dropped the gun and fell down at Andrea's side. I held her in my arms as she looked up at me, confused. She opened her mouth to try and speak, but I shushed her.

"Shh, baby, don't try to talk." She didn't listen. She never did.

"K-Kyle…"

"Shh…shh. It's okay. I'm going to get you to medic."

"Too…too late. Not enough," she coughed violently, and there was blood starting to drip out of her mouth. My baby sister was dying in my arms.

"Not enough time, Kyle…got to save…yourself." I shook my head, fighting back tears.

"There's enough time. Don't give up, Andrea. Please, don't give up." Please…please don't leave me, I silently told her.

"I can't stay…" I shook my head, but she shushed me this time.

"Listen…to me. Keep going. It'll be…okay. One day. We're close." She coughed again, "so close. Please, please keep going. For…for me." I shook my head again, holding her tighter.

"Don't leave me. I promised I would take care of you. I'm going to keep my promise." She smiled, as well as she could. She had such a beautiful smile. It was something she never forgot the ability to do.

"Kyle, you… you always take care…of me…" It was getting harder for her to speak, but I couldn't let her stop. I needed to hear her.

"You're…my, my big brother. And you take care of me. You always have…you…you always will."

"No. No, please. Stay here. Stay with me."

"Help her, Kyle. It's up to you…helping her…helps me. Helps you. I am…always here, Kyle…I need you to be strong…for me. I need you to keep going. You kept your…promise. You…always have." She was fading. She had held on for so long. So long. She was so strong. I held her even trying, trying to keep her alive for me. The bullets were flying all around me, and I knew that I was going to get attacked soon. It was a matter of time. But I couldn't leave her. I looked at my dying little sister, and she smiled with all the strength she could muster.

"You…kept your promise. Now please, Kyle…please. Save your…self. Save…her." The tears were coming now, and I wasn't trying to stop them. I was holding on for every last moment, every last breath.

"I…love…you, big brother." I smiled at her through the ever faster falling tears.

"I love you, too, little sister." She looked at me with her bright green eyes, and the life that she had lived so fiercely, so passionately, against all odds, faded away. She was gone. I began to sob, holding her lifeless body to mine.

"No…no, please, no. Come back…please come back." I cried out. Then the sadness turned to anger as the world around me came into focus. My senses were sharpened and I knew that there was immanent danger. I picked her up (she had always been so light, even dead weight…I stopped myself from thinking about that) and I picked up her still loaded gun. I turned around and saw that there were three terminators right behind me. I felt two shots hit my body, one grazed my leg, and the other passed through the meat of my shoulder.

I began shooting the machines, tearing through the flesh and metal that covered them. I plowed through them, operating on pure anger and adrenaline. I carried my sister, clearing the path to one of our safe houses. I finally reached it, and then the world seemed to speed past me in a blur.

I could feel them trying to take Andrea from me, but I refused. I wouldn't let anyone touch her; no one was allowed to come near her. I carried her to one of the beds and laid her down gently, folding her arms across her chest. I refused contact with anyone, until John came. He laid his hand on my shoulder and I immediately felt a release. I allowed them to discuss what to do with Andrea, and we decided to cremate her. Since she was a lieutenant, she was allowed special treatment. And I was a commander, and I pretty much had control of this whole damn barracks. Except for four of the other commanders, and John and Kate, of course. After the cremation, I spread her ashes in the Pacific Ocean, atop a cliff that she had liked when we had come her. It was a place of peace for her, and I so desperately wanted that.

Several weeks went by, and I continued to fight. The picture that John had given me of his mother Sarah was destroyed, and I felt another piece of me fade away. Then, one month after Andrea's death, victory was attained. A relief came over my barracks like a wave, but I only felt more depressed. I wished so much that Andrea were here to see it.

Two days later, word spread that what remained of the enemy had modeled a time machine, much like the one our engineers had been working on and almost perfected, and was planning on going back and killing Sarah Connor. This would kill John, who had been our leader and the reason for our victory. It was a smart plan, but it naturally infuriated me. The time machine had always been a sore point for Andrea, who argued that it should never work, it was too illogical.

I was brought in as a consultant for what to do about the new development. Apparently, we had been able to finish our time machine and there was a debate as to what should be done. John came up with the idea to send one of our own back and to destroy the terminator that would be sent to kill his mother. Of course, he would come up with that idea as that was what happened. I never understood that. I never tried to, though Andrea had almost gone crazy over what had happened and how it was possible.

The only problem was who to send. Whoever went would never be able to come back, and would be stuck in the past if he were to succeed. John kept quiet about this, as he obviously knew who had been sent. As the debate wore on, I volunteered. It was perfect. I could meet the woman I loved, Sarah. I would save her. The future would occur and everything would be okay. It wasn't as though I had anything to lose. Andrea was…gone. John didn't argue, so I could only hope he already knew. After a little more debate, it was agreed that I would be the one to go.

I was standing naked in front of the machine, ready to leave. I could hear the people bustling around, getting ready for my departure. I heard beeps and the clicking and clacking of keys on keyboards. I heard all these things, and at the same time, I couldn't hear them at all. I could hear Andrea, hear her voice. I could see Andrea. I could see her face, see her smile. See her tears. See her eyes. I could feel her in my arms, holding her. Squeezing her. Begging her not to go. Not to leave me. I could hear her-

"Reese." I turned around. It was John Connor. I snapped to attention and saluted my leader.

"At ease." I moved into position, slightly embarrassed by the fact that I was still naked.

"Are you ready?" I nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"Tell me truthfully. Are you ready?"

"Yes, sir." John nodded, then looked me straight in the eyes and asked,

"Are you okay?" I racked my brain, trying to decide. I settled on the truth.

"Physically, I am fit and ready for the journey and the immanent arrival in 1984 at 0700 hours on May 12. Emotionally…my emotions are irrelevant. They can be controlled."

"Wrong. Emotions are not irrelevant. They are just as important as physical fitness. Make sure you understand the reason you are doing this. You understand the reason you are doing this, correct?"

Did I understand the reason? Did I really? Yes. I was going for her. For Sarah. For the woman I loved. But I was also going for my other reason. For Andrea. Andrea. I remembered her dying words and how she had told me to save her, whoever she was. Maybe "she" was Sarah. I could only hope that was who Andrea had meant. I could help Andrea, even after her death, by saving who I believed Andrea wanted me to save. I was going for Sarah, but also for Andrea's future. Because I had a promise to keep. I hadn't failed her yet. Not yet.

"Yes, sir."

"Very well. Good luck, Reese." John shook my hand and stepped away to stand at the controls. I readied myself for what was to come. I looked over at the person who was about to send me back in time. What was his name? Barrera? Did it really matter?

"Okay, Reese. Step into the portal." Barrera (?) said. I stepped into the large metal contraption they called a portal.

"Be warned: there will be a bright light, and more than likely, a lot of pain."

"Yeah, got it." Pain I could deal with. I'd had enough of it in my lifetime.

"Get into position." I lay on the floor and curled myself into a fetal position.

"Ready in five…four…" I thought of the future, or in this case, the past. Of Sarah and my picture. Of my plan. And mostly, of Andrea. Of her strength. Of her compassion. Of my promise. I promised her I would take care of her. She said I had kept it, but I didn't. So I made a new one. As she had lay dying in my arms, I made a new promise. One I could keep. I would save her. Save her future. Save our life, our memories. If I couldn't save her future, I could save her past. Without John, there was no Andrea. Saving Sarah, saving John, would mean saving Andrea.

"Three…two…"

My reason was her. My little sister. I loved Sarah Connor. I was going for her. But I was also going for the true love of my life, my Andrea. For the girl who had brightened my days as a child, as a teenager, and as an adult. My life. I had to save her past. I had to save her future. I had to save her. If that meant my death, so be it. All for her.

"…One."

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_That's all! Thanks to all who read and especially those who reviewed. A thousand apologies for taking SO long. My Terminator muse had been dormant for awhile, and it came back, so I wrote like crazy. I may edit this, because I wrote it at elevon o'clock at night after having watched T3. So, some things may be wrong. I'll go back and check, but I was too proud of myself for finishing it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the LONG ride! _


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